


Discordant

by Chocobo-Lips (Eccentric_Bambi)



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Aerith is Alive, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, M/M, Multi, Murder Mystery, Paranormal, Puppet Cloud Strife, Seph comes back from the dead, Sort of? - Freeform, Tension, Zack is alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-02-27 06:06:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13242036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eccentric_Bambi/pseuds/Chocobo-Lips
Summary: Cloud has finally left his terrible hometown of Nibelheim Behind, Eager to Make it into the Prestigious Soldier Program of Midgar. But his new apartment is a Little... Strange.Rumors and superstition were never on his Mind before. But Perhaps, he should have paid more attention to the things said behind his back.





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> My first ff7 fic, so I'm not sure how it will go yet. :v  
> I won't dig too deep into the lore, as I am sure most of us already know how it goes lol. This is mostly self-indulgent nonsense.  
> I shall add more characters as I go.

It's not easy living the life of an adult. Been this way since I was eighteen and forced to be on my own after leaving my old hometown, Nibelheim. That town was crazy enough as it was, but this apartment I found for cheap... It unsettled me. It's looming red brick structure made it seem older than it was probably. There were three stories, and I was on the very top. I made a mental note to myself never to meet anyone else who might live here. And I thought the people from home were crazy. But Midgar was a different story altogether.

Stories tended to circulate. The people around me, my neighbors, the people down at the convenience store that I frequented. They keep telling me that someone died here, very violently too. He was a good guy, a man responsible for many good deeds around the community.

This was the only unit available though at that point. No one else even wanted it and it was so god damn cheap that I thought it was a good deal. I never really believed in superstitions, but I’m seriously having my doubts. Why else would it have been so cheap?

There was one room in here that was closed off, oddly enough. Aside from my own bedroom, there was a second one, and the door was thoroughly locked up.It was strange, along with that there was a working bathroom and a decent kitchen. The walls were painted in a dingy beige color and a faded green carpet covered the floor. I have to use the bathroom as my, for now, laundry room for the few clothes I had. I would get more once I had a steady income of sorts. For now though, I was good enough to last a few weeks.

Hopefully, if things went right and I landed my dream job of SOLDIER, it wouldn’t have to be a big deal. I have a few days til the opening ceremony and admission dates, so hopefully, I can figure this out before that.

I picked out some clothes and left the apartment early in the morning, determined to find some answers for myself about my new home. Though, the only way to tell it was morning through the dark disgusting pollution blocking the sun out was the time on my watch. It was the only way, really.

Outside the limits of the fence around the complex were the other newer homes. They were nice and bright with well-kept lawns and colorful flowers along their pathways. Young kids played in their yards on bikes or swingsets. Domestic and peaceful, that's what it probably felt like to them. Even if they were sucking in the remnants of whatever junk was pulsing out of the reactors anyway.

There was a nice young lady in a long black dress standing across from the street at her mailbox. Maybe she knows something. I quickly run up to her and get her attention by tapping her shoulder. She looks up with bewildered eyes. She looked no more than sixteen years old.

“Excuse me miss? Can I... Ask you something?”

She gasps and takes a step back.

“I don't have anything valuable I swear!”

“What? Oh no no no miss! I'm not a mugger I... Please calm down miss. I live across the street and just wanted to know if you knew anything about the apartment across the street.”

She seemed to calm down at that and she caught her breath.

“Oh... I'm sorry I just thought... What did you want to know?”

Good, I have her attention.

“Um well. I just wanted to know the history behind it... I just moved in a few days ago but I don't know anything.”

“What apartment number?”

“Seven.”

Her eyes widen in fear and she looks around herself before back at me.

“That place... It's haunted. Someone died in one of the bedrooms but no one really accepts how.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked cautiously.

“People keep saying that he died due to an accident... But there's a rumor going around at my school saying he was killed by... By a...”

Due to her pause, I grew uneasy.

“By a what?”

She takes a breath and whispers in a low scared voice with wide eyes.

“ _A ghost_.”

“A ghost?” I asked incredulously. “How can a ghost kill anyone?”

She shakes her head and backs away.

“I shouldn't say anything else... I have to go. I'm sorry.”

Helplessly I watched her disappear into her big white house with two floors. That was odd. It was like she was... Scared that she would get in trouble if she said anything to me about where I live now. Would everyone I ask act just like this?

“Um... bye then,” I mumbled before walking back across the street. But it did tell me something about the place at least. There were secrets there, secrets waiting to be uncovered. But maybe I shouldn't. Some things are better left alone perhaps. I went down the street from the girl's house and found another person, a woman outside with two kids. Instead of asking about the house, however, decided to ask for a library of some sorts. She directed me to outside of the cul de sac and down the road to the left for three blocks. There I would find a tall two-story building made of red bricks, much like my house.

I followed directions and stepped into the building. There were a few people in here, the sun came through some large windows on the walls. I could hear a nearby AC unit running on high to keep it cool in here. Rows and rows of books were everywhere, making my inner bookworm shiver in delight. But I wasn't here for that. I was here for a single reason, research on my home so I knew what I was getting into.

I walked up to the counter and found the elderly librarian at the counter and spoke in a soft voice.

“Excuse me? But... If it's not much to ask, may I request some information?”

She looks up through her glasses with crinkly eyes and closed the book she held in her hands.

“Ohhh a young man. What information are you looking for?”

“That one apartment down the street? Three blocks from here? It's... Sort of important.”

Her face paled and she looked extremely nervous.

“O-ohh... That old place? Um, why on Earth are you asking about that old place? It's been renovated, hasn't it?”

“No actually. I recently moved there and... I don't know much about it so, I just wanted to know what sort of things I should expect while living there.”

Strange, she seemed nervous talking about it as well. Her hands wrung nervously and she pushed up her glasses.

“Look, young man... You can't stay there for long. The place is cursed. I'll give you the information, but you have to understand that there are certain things that cannot be discussed openly like this.”

“Why is everyone so adamant against talking about it?” I asked. “If I could, I would leave like you said. But right now, I cannot.”

The woman sighed and stood up from the counter before rummaging through the file cabinets behind her. A few minutes passed before she came back with a few manila folders and files full of stuff about

my house. Hesitantly she hands them over before staring at me with cautious eyes.

“Be warned, boy. That place is a looming disaster just waiting to happen... Whoever lives there is cursed. If you must live there, then avoid the top and bottom floors at all costs. I'm only doing this for you because the truth needs to be revealed.”

I took the files from her hands gratefully, noticing her concerned crinkly eyes glancing at me.

“Thanks... I'll bring these back as soon as I am done with them.”

“Actually dear, I would prefer if you kept them. No one here... Really is interested in them. So, please... Keep them.”

Why does she want me to keep them..? Is my house really that terrible? What could possibly have happened there that people here refuse to discuss it?

“Oh um... Okay. Thank you very much, Miss.”

“It's no problem. And no worries, you need it more than I.”

She waved me off as I walked out of the library with my new info. She seemed nice enough to give these to me... Or maybe she was just insistent?

There were easily two or three people who avoided me when I walked home. Word got out fast around here in such a small place. It honestly wasn't that surprising but it made me uncomfortable. Would I be able to find anyone at all who could even trust me? How else was I supposed to survive in this place? A woman and her child scurried away when I approached my block and that alone broke away a bit of my resolve... Not even the children can trust me.

Great. Life here is sure going to be such a ride at the Chocobo farm.

“You sure picked a keeper, Cloud.”


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance meeting

Discordant- Chapter 2

Normal POV

People still avoided Cloud like the plague as he returned home. Word seemed a travel quickly around here in this sector, didn't it… Great. At least it meant he would be left alone for now. He was never a people person and he owed it all to his shitty lifestyle and abusive people of Nibelheim.

His poor mother had suffered all of that for a very long time, even after his father died when he was but a young boy. So when they started to pick on him as well, that had been the last straw. The moment he turned eighteen, she used what savings she had and got him the next envoy out of the town into the city to follow after his biggest dream. So he didn't expect to stay here long. It would only make his mother’s sacrifice seem wasted.

However, there was only one thing in his way.

The file on his aged kitchen table seemed to be a little… thick. Aside from the usual info like past residents, it also had a lot of newspapers. Newspapers from both recent and long past times. Papers stained yellow with age and others just recently cut out. But most had only one topic included.

Man murdered in an apartment of sector 8. The suspect has never been found.

There was little he could glean from them though, as no names were presented. However, there was one thing that they all had in common. A date reaching back nearly ten years. That was when it happened. Cause of death was never really figured out either, as the victim was perfectly healthy upon autopsy. All that happened was an apparent lack of air in the lungs at the time of discovery. But no signs of strangulation. As though he had simply stopped himself from breathing and died like that.

However, there were signs of an apparent struggle as there was one clipping in the pile that showed his apartment ten years ago with things strewn about and knocked over. A bookshelf with books, a tv stand with a broken analog tv on the ground. But aside from that, no other evidence was found like fingerprints and the like.

It was strange. Cloud had never heard of anyone dying while being perfectly and utterly healthy. Or being murdered in their home with no apparent cause or murderer. It just didn't happen. Ah, but what would he know, he was no expert on the science of people dying.

Yet that still didn’t tell him why people were wary of this place. So someone died. Was it haunted here? He didn’t really believe in that so maybe they were just too suspicious. It was plausible. The ways of city people were still a mystery to him even now even after all the time he has been here.

Cloud sighed to himself before pushing away the files and leaving back in his chair, running a hand through the unruly blonde locks atop his head. He needed to study damn it. And Gaia be damned if he was gonna let what his mother did for him go to waste.

Leaving the file on the table, he decided to do just that and went to go find his SOLDIER handbook to feel productive.

////////////

An hour passed with him in the living room and his book open on his lap with the TV spouting off some random documentary about the recent mutations and monsters found in the nearby sixth and seventh sectors recently. It wasn’t that bad of a deal, just a few Tonberry sightings. But people were getting restless and demanded SHINRA to do something about it.

“Tch, like they would do anything about a few tonberries,” he huffed with an eye-roll and closed his book. It was getting close to evening and therefore his job hunt would need to resume soon. Rent was in a few days and he needed about 8000 gil to secure his place for the next month.

  
Just as he was about to get ready to go out again, there was a soft knocking at his door. Who in the nine hells… he didn’t know any of his neighbors. Interacting with people outside of his jobs was not something of a strong suit of his.

  
Cautious he rose to his feet, eyes glued to the dingy front door.

  
“Who is it?” He called lowly but loud enough to be heard.

  
“Hello! I’m a new neighbor! I am greeting people who live near me!”

  
A loud enthusiastic voice echoed through his apartment, deep but with a boyish charm. Who the heck did stuff like that nowadays? Did this guy have a social suicide wish?

  
Cloud frowned and reached the door, unlocking the handle but keeping the chain attached he cracked it open just a bit.

  
“Can I help you?”

  
A young man stood there just outside his door. Unruly black hair that rivaled even his own flowed down his back and had messy bangs in front of a youthful and bright face. But what threw Cloud off the most was a strange Mark on his face. It looked like a birthmark of some sort in the form of an x on the left side of his lower cheek. Strange… but it gave him more charm? If Cloud could even find some people charming. The all-black outfit he wore wasn’t helping.

  
“Hi, there!” the guy greets with a wave. “I live two doors down with my girlfriend. She asked me to bring some flowers to our nearest neighbors.”

  
In a single gloved hand, the man held a bouquet of flowers, in colors of yellow and white. They were pretty, if not a rare sight.

  
“Flowers?” He asked. “How did you find flowers in a place like this?”

  
The guy smiled and holds out the bouquet, tied together with a small red ribbon.

  
“My lovely girlfriend has a talent. She can make flowers grow in the weirdest ways and it’s awesome. Oh yeah, they’re meant to be put in some water right away so…”

  
Cloud hesitated, not sure if he should take the flowers or not. But something about this guy seemed… very trustworthy. As though he was just a big bundle of innocence in a world filled with evil. So maybe it wouldn’t hurt to bring some color into his bland apartment.  
Slowly, he reached through the door and accepted the flowers from the stranger, noting the way a huge smile spread across his face. This guy could do no wrong, could he?

  
“Um… thank you,” he mumbled quietly and clasped the bundle tight in his hands. “Uh, I should go get ready for work, so… if you don’t mind…”

  
It was not a subtle way sure, but Cloud has always been a blunt person. But as usual, this guy didn’t seem at all offended. He nodded and took a step back.

  
“Of course, I’ll get out of your hair now! So, I’ll see you around, Mr... uh sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

  
The blonde swallows and averts his eyes to the floor. He was sure persistent.

  
“Strife. Cloud Strife.”

  
But maybe that wasn’t so bad… it would be nice to have someone nice to talk to.

  
“Nice to meet you Cloud,” came an answering chirp and an outstretched hand. “Well, you can call me Zack. Zack Fair! I hope to see you around sometime!”

  
Then the guy takes off down the dark hallway, leaving Cloud dumbfounded, still clutching the flowers.

  
“What… the hell just happened?”

  
The door clicked closed rather slowly, and he stares at the flowers in his hand. The petals were small and smelled nice. When was the last time he saw flowers… back home maybe? Or even in the small stop in either Junon or Kalm. Who knows. But it was strange. That guy didn’t seem to be like his other neighbors. Loud in a rude way or completely antisocial.

  
Instead, he could see that he had a boyish personality that was likable to anyone. No surprise he had a girlfriend either. He hoped she was as nice as her boyfriend if they ever met. It would be a breath of fresh air.

  
Oh right, water. Cloud looked for the closest thing to a vase and settle for a tall glass and set the flowers in lukewarm water. It was not that hard to figure out that ice cold water was a bad idea.

  
Sighing he put it in a window that wouldn’t let it get sunlight and leaves it there. Hopefully, it would last through the night.

  
“Strange people,” he chuckled to himself before sliding on his jacket and grabbing a single 3-star materia and heading out the door. Hopefully, he could find something that would distract him from the damn file that seemed to taunt him on the kitchen table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapters are a bit short now, but they'll get longer as i go! :D


	3. Pest Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud finds a silver lining

_ Normal POV _

Cloud was lucky. He found a place not far from his apartment that was desperate for a little added muscle and take care of a sudden infestation of monsters in some old play theater. It was a good thing he brought his sword along, but the fire materia probably wasn’t a good idea. He might burn the place down… It was.. Kind of odd for it to be in a place like Sector 8 where many other people lived without a need for materia considering the monster patrols, but it wasn’t bad to have protection. Plus his sword was not bad either. It was strapped to his back in what he hoped was in a not threatening way.

 

Aside from the LOVELESS district and the many shopping areas and restaurants outside of his price range, there was the somewhat intimidating view of the SHINRA tower from here. How can people handle living under that thing… 

 

Loud voices and frantic shrill yelling tore his attention back to the surrounding city and he realized it was coming from the area he was headed. Tsking to himself, Cloud gripped the materia in his hand before running the rest of the way. The warehouse was a looming figure in the dark smoggy atmosphere and the few lights inside were flickering erratically. Great. 

 

People wearing suits and worker outfits rushed about in front of the entrance and in the parking lot, clearly all in a tizzy. He rushed forward to the first dude he saw in a construction hat and bright orange overalls. 

 

“What's happening here?” He demands in what he hoped was an authoritative voice. The man was sweating and clearly stressed. 

 

“Are you the kid who we hired for help?” Cloud nodded. “Good. There are Tonberries infesting the theater messing with the electrical systems. We need someone to help us clear them out! Can you do it?” 

 

Oh boy, Tonberries. Were these the same ones perhaps mentioned in the news earlier? What an unlucky break.

 

“Well I have a sword and this fire materia but I don’t think I need it,” he answered before the guy was shoving him to the door. 

 

“Ah good, very good, the inside of this building is made of metal and the pests are in the mostly empty basement, please take care of it. We shall reward you if you pull this off!” 

So should he use this materia? Might as well if it won’t burn this place to the ground. Now with a purpose, he ran through the dimly lit theater with the sword in his gloved hand to search for a backdoor that could hopefully lead to the basement. All the while, the air in here seemed to get… colder? Goosebumps rose on his arms, and he cursed himself for not wearing a sweater in here. Cloud paused, gripping his materia tight. What in the Nine Hells was happening here? It was not this cold outside… And for some reason, he thought he could feel someone… watching him? 

 

Before he could think, the sound of high pitched machinery squeals alert him to the reason he was here and he continued to look around. His breath came out in clouds and he was shivering by the time he found the side stairwell that would take him down. It was risky to use the elevator right now. 

 

Damn knife-wielding maniacs just had to go and take over the place. That and this place probably had issues with its central heating systems. 

 

Luckily he found the tonberries in the main machinery room with the breaker box after a bit of running around and found them stabbing and ripping things out of their sockets. There were three of them, all small and all, especially the bigger one, in an asshole mood. An expensive computer sat smashed on the ground and a few wires on the wall were severed. The box itself was on the ground, still sparking with live wires.

 

“Shit,” he cursed and drew his sword and shoves the fire materia in an empty slot. “If I don’t hurry. This place will go up in flames..!”

 

The tonberries were alerted to his presence and began to ignore the machines in favor of him, their small shiny knives glinting dangerously under the single dangling light bulb. Damn, there was no way out of this was there, other than difficult fighting… Tonberries are dangerous little bastards. 

 

He could forget about going home without an injury or two. 

 

/////////////////////

 

Almost an entire hour passed before Cloud could say that he managed to just barely win. He had Tonberry blood all over his clothes and sword, and scorch marks were all over the walls. But, he managed to shut off the electric system in time. Now, covered in minor stab wounds, he meandered his way back up to the freezing cold entrance where people were waiting for him with bated breath and waiting cameras that started to snap and flash the moment he stepped outside.

Great, more attention. He just wanted to go home and flop onto his bed. But he was sure he had to add a hospital visit to the list. Maybe buying a cure materia and some potions would be good.

 

The owner, a tall and stocky guy and expensive suit, was the first to come over and assess the poor boy’s condition.

 

“Are you okay kid? You look like you took quite a beating.”

 

Putting his sword back on his back, he sighed and ran a hand down his face, smearing blood everywhere. 

 

“I’m all right, but you should get a monster clean up crew to get those pests out, they’re not any better off. Also, you’re gonna need a new heating system. Now, can I just get my pay? I need a hospital.”

 

“Of course of course! Many thanks, kid! Here, this is for you.”

 

He was handed a thick envelope and a complimentary pat on his messy blonde head. Cloud watched for a few seconds as firefighters and other types of personnel began to run about the building, including photographers. Sighing, and now feeling the pain of his injuries, he peeked into the envelope, feeling his eyes nearly bug out of his skull. Fifty thousand gil for a pest extermination? Is this guy sitting on money?? Why didn’t Cloud take this job sooner?? He could eat good and have money left for his entrance fee after this! And that hospital visit could be no problem! Not enough for a new apartment though… Oh well. He can suffer through a few more months. 

 

“Oh Gaia, thank you,” he almost moans and drags himself away before more people can get a glimpse at him and get a chance to plaster his face all over the TV screens across Midgar. And then, hopefully, he could be in bed before 2 am. He was still… kind of freezing right now.


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in a while so Here is a new one!  
> I'll try to stay consistent :v

**Normal POV**

 

_ A terrible nightmare unlike any he has ever seen began to torment his once already restless rest. Images of fire and a terrible red sky assaulted him from all sides, and he feels like he can’t breathe. Smoke the color of the blackest ink wrapped around his brain, suffocating him from the inside. No matter where he turns, all he sees is fire. A soundless scream is wrenched from his mouth, and he drops to his knees. _

_ ‘Help me! Someone help me!’ _

_ The blackness overtook his senses, drowning him in a grip like death. Then just as he is about to fall under the terrible blanket he feels a cold breath on his neck. Only one thing can be heard in a faint but powerful and commanding, forceful tongue. _

**_‘Come to me… Cloud, come to me.’_ **

**_COME TO ME_ **

  
  


/////////////////////

  
  


Cloud awoke with a startled gasp, coughing his lungs out and struggling to breathe.

“What the hell was that,” he wheezed and gripped his head, a headache now forming. Did he have a nightmare? He didn't have those often… and he couldn't remember anything. It was only then that he realized where he was. “What the...”

He was… In front of the locked door? He laid on the carpet just in front of it as though he had come out of his room and just plopped his butt down right there. But he distinctly remembered going to bed last night, so what gives? Maybe he sleepwalked? There was no other rational answer for what just happened. There was no way that anything…. Paranormal could be happening right? Of course. That would be ridiculous. Paranormal stuff only happened in the wilderness were ghosts and other mutants wandered around with no one to take care of them. Shinra wouldn’t just let monsters hang around the city for no reason… Would they?

A, but he had no time to worry. Today was another day to mope around and hopefully get more things done. His back hurt, probably due to the rough carpet, and his head pounded from the now very intense headache. Great. 

Cloud roughly gets up to get clothes and shower for his day, still a little peeved that he was interrupted from the few precious moments of sleep he had been given. Last night was intense, and his body was still sore. He had already taken a shower last night, but this carpet… wasn't… exactly the cleanest thing around. 

He would have to think about what happened some other time, right now he was hoping to get some things for the apartment and hopefully another materia besides the one he had. Preferable a cure, considering the close call he had last night… Those tonberries were seriously a pest. Pests that needed to be eradicated or at the very least, relocated. He helped out somewhat. And he would gladly do it again since he was more prepared.

But there was also the training regimens he had to go do for the SOLDIER exam. There wasn’t a whole lot of time left, so it was better to do what he needed sooner rather than later. The exams were in less than two weeks and therefore he had no time to slack off.  

He shot one last dirty look at the old locked up bedroom before leaving with the sword he used strapped to his back as usual. The hallway was nearly deserted save for the little old lady that lived a few doors down. And, unfortunately for him, the guy from yesterday as well. Zack, as he recalled. Only this time, a woman was with him. Probably his girlfriend from what he remembered of their conversation. She was dressed in a long pink dress and had deep green eyes like emeralds and long brown hair tied with a pink ribbon.

Maybe he could sneak away and not get involved…

“Hey, Cloud! Cloudie!”

Oh, No. Now he had to be sociable… He was hoping this would not happen. 

“Heeey,” he said slowly through a forced small smile, turning to face the couple. “Good morning…”

Okay, so he said that first part a little bit too forced. But thankfully, neither of them noticed as they walked towards him, a bit too chipper for such an early morning. 

“Hey Cloud! So we meet again!” Zack chirped and carelessly threw an arm over him, missing the obvious flinch Cloud did as a sore muscle was pushed a bit too hard. The girl laughed, a small dainty sound that sounded a lot like bells. But with the way Cloud was being smothered he really couldn’t bring himself to care. 

“Zack, please,” she giggled, covering her mouth. “He is clearly uncomfortable.”

Oh, so she noticed, unlike her boyfriend. Zack laughed and ruffled the spikes of Cloud’s before backing away, finally seeing the pained look on the blonde’s face. He groans and rubs his shoulder where Zack squeezed at. His neighbors were a bit too friendly for his tastes. 

“Sorry. Are you all right?” 

He nodded, already feeling like he wanted to just go home and put the rest of the day off. 

“Yeah, I am a little sore from… Uh, working out.” 

He would rather lie than make them deal with his problems. That was just a douche thing to do. 

“Oh neat you work out! What gym?” 

“I do it at home.” 

Zack nodded and beamed at Cloud, clearly not expecting such an answer. 

“I see! No time for a gym huh? I can respect that. So where you headed?”

It was good to cut this off quickly, he was on a time limit here. 

“Um… Training for the… SOLDIER program…”

There was indeed a place that was similar to a gym that he was going to, but it wasn’t open to the public, only to hopefuls like himself.

“Woah no way! That’s cool! Then we could be headed in the same direction! I am in the training program too!”

Cloud blinked slowly, trying to come up with an excuse to leave.

“Uhm…”

Thankfully the girl stepped in, sensing his discomfort. At least one of them had the brains to pick up on social cues. She was all smiles and clasped a cute little wooden basket to her chest.

“Actually Zack, I need to pick some things up on the way there, so we’re gonna have to make a few stops.”

For just a split second Zack’s attitude deflates but it is back to normal and he sheepishly rubs his neck. 

“Aw, okay then. Oh, Cloud, this is Aerith by the way. My girlfriend.”

Aerith… A nice name. For once, Cloud didn’t feel immediately like running away. Instead, she gave off a friendly vibe without being too overbearing, and she knew how to keep her distance. Unlike someone…

“It’s nice to meet you,” he shyly mumbled, still feeling the pain in his muscles. “Well, I should be going. I don’t have a whole lot of time to stay and chat…”

“Of course,” she answered, still smiling that bright smile. “It was nice to meet you too Cloud. Zack, can you wait for me downstairs? I need to go grab something so you can start the car if you want to.”

She was clearly well versed in handling him because Zack immediately brightens up at that. 

“All right! I’ll wait for you! It was good to see you again Cloud, maybe we will run into each other at the Training facility!”

He leaned forward to gently peck Aerith on the cheek before bounding towards the elevator, hyper like a sugared-up kid. As he disappears, they both sigh in relief. Surprised he looked over at her and found that she was fondly looking at the elevator doors. 

“Ah, that Zack,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I try to tell him to pick up on clues from people, but it’s like talking to a wall sometimes with him.”

Cloud smiled despite himself, though it was small and brief she had still seen it. 

“It’s alright,” he dismissed, adjusting his sword. “We need more people like him in this world. I am just not one of them.”

Aerith laughs and doesn’t go back to her apartment like she said, so it was clearly a chance to let Cloud escape with his sanity intact. A tactic that he was more than grateful for. 

“Still, he can be a handful, but I try. Well, I won’t keep you. I hope to see you again soon, and not when Zack is bursting your personal bubble.”

She walked away, waving to him as she went. He watched her go, not returning the wave but knowing she wouldn’t mind it was more than enough. He liked her, he figured. Not in that way, of course not. Just as a person, she was enjoyable. Quiet and sociable in all the right ways, and that was what he liked in people. It made having to deal with Zack that less painful. 

So maybe, just maybe, he could get through his day without wanting to smother his face in his bed as usual. 

“Two more weeks,” he sighed and slowly went to the stairs. “Two more weeks and hopefully I’ll be out of here.”

And away from that creepy room of course. 

**TBC**

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know what You think! <333  
> Kudos and comments always appreciated! <33


End file.
